Congo, Democratic Republic of

The secretary general of the Confédération Syndicale du Congo (CSC), Fidèle Kiyangi Matangila, who is also in charge of the Central Workers of Banks and Financial Institutions and is president of the National Intersyndicale of Public Administration (INAP), was arrested on Friday 12 March 2021 at the administrative building of the civil service. His arrest by the security forces followed a protest action by union members against non-payment of wages and bonuses by the financial service employer for a period of four months.

Since 2011, Somika Mining has been opposing the organisation of trade union elections within the company, openly flouting the right to freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework . Sector-wide mining unions also denounced the interference of the local authorities in the governorate of Lualaba, where attempts were made to block the organisation of trade union elections at the Tenke Fungurume Mining company in Lualaba for the 2018-2021 period.

Around 80 journalists from Télé 50, a privately-owned TV station broadcasting from Kinshasa, were arrested by the police and taken to the public prosecutor’s office in Kinshasa. According to Eric Lukoki, a member of Télé 50’s provisional trade union committee, the journalists were demonstrating against the director general’s refusal to allow a union to be set up at Télé 50. The journalists were released later that evening.

According to the CSC, some companies, such as Congolese Maritime Lines (Lignes maritimes congolaises - LMC), the Bracongo brewery and the Congolese National Radio and Television Company favour certain unions, while the Ministry of Labour prefers to ignore the CSC, the country’s largest national trade union centre trade union centre A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation. , and negotiate with a minority union minority union A trade union which only represents a minority of the workers in a bargaining unit. .

The Trade Union Confederation of the Congo (Confédération syndicale du Congo - CSC) has reported discrimination against its members. Cicéron Pongo Mapondji, a union delegate at the Fund for Cultural Promotion, was dismissed because of his membership of the Confederation, while in some companies, such as Pacific Trading and the Congolese National Radio and Television Company, workers have been pressured into giving up their membership of the CSC.

Jean-Bosco Puna, general secretary of the Catholic education trade union SYNECAT (Syndicat des Écoles Conventionnées Catholiques) and permanent secretary of the Civil Society platform, was arrested on 18 September at the SYNECAT head office in Kinshasa by five individuals supposedly from the national intelligence agency, the ANR, and plain-clothed police. Although the trade union had deplored the panic that broke out following its statement regarding the radicalisation of strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action during a general meeting, Jean-Bosco Puna was accused of making statements inciting violence. According to Christopher Ngoy Mutamba, president of the Civil Society of Congo platform, the arrest was designed to put pressure on the trade union following the intensification of the teachers’ strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , three weeks after the start of the new school year. Jean-Bosco Puna, released two days later, denounced the poor conditions under which he was detained.

On returning from a mission, the driver of Guy Mpembele, executive secretary in charge of external relations for the UNTC (Union Nationale des Travailleurs du Congo) and implementing the Kananga project to organise women informal economy workers, was abducted on 14 June 2017. He was found injured and unconscious the following day. Guy Mpembele was called in by the police the next day and reportedly spent three full days, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., at the police station without being questioned. The safety of activists from associations in the DRC remains a source of major concern.

On 10 April, Jean-Pierre Muteba, president of the Nouvelle Dynamique Syndicale, one of the main trade unions in Katanga, and former president of the Katanga civil society platform, was brutally arrested in Lubumbashi Street for “rebellion” and “insulting a police officer”, on making his way to the home of a government opponent. That same day, the opposition was planning to hold a demonstration to press for the application of the 31 December 2016 agreement, despite the authorities having banned all public gatherings of a political nature. The trade union leader was transferred, two days later, to Kasapa prison, before being released on bail, on 14 April, after four days in detention, on payment of 65,000 Congolese francs in bail money.
Although authorisation is not required to hold a demonstration under Congolese law, many protests organised by the political opposition were declared unauthorised.
By contrast, those organised by the presidential majority generally went ahead unimpeded.

Trade union representatives were excluded from the talks underway within the framework of the plans to privatise the Commercial Transport and Ports Company, SCTP. They were also threatened and intimidated for seeking to represent the workers’ rights threatened by this privatisation process. On 11 November, workers responded to the call for a work stoppage launch by the inter-union grouping Solidarité Syndicale des Travailleurs et Cadres du Congo (SCTP-SA). The International Transport Federation (ITF) has been following this case for some time. On 6 November, its general secretary, Steve Cotton, wrote to President Joseph Kabila, urging him to intervene and to convince the management to accept the principle of constructive dialogue with the trade unions. This was ultimately the route taken. After a few hours of strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action, an agreement was concluded between the state and the SCTP-SA.

The National Police violently disrupted a General Assembly organised by the public sector unions on 26 November 2014. The National Public Sector Unions (Intersyndicale Nationale du Secteur Public) and the Independent Public Administration Unions (Syndicats Indépendants de l’Administration Publique) had invited their members to take part in a General Assembly in Golgotha Square, outside the Civil Service Ministry, to discuss a number of issues, notably the government’s refusal to increase civil service pay, the illegal deduction of bank costs, and specific bonuses. The two organisations had notified the Civil Service Ministry, the Interior Ministry and the Governor of Kinshasa of their intention to hold the meeting by letter on 17 and 26 November.

Just as the meeting was about to begin, the National Police arrived and dispersed the participants using brute force, on the orders of the Civil Service Minister Jean Claude Kibala. They also arrested two trade union leaders: Jean Bosco Puna Nsasa, general secretary of the National Union of Catholic Teachers (SYNECAT) and Sylvain Kabuya Mwamba, a member of the Workers’ Union. Mr Nsasa was released the following day, while Mr Mwamba remained in detention.

Twelve trade union delegates representing workers at the national post and telecommunications company, the Société Congolaise de Poste et Télécommunications, were dismissed without notice on 2 May 2014. Their dismissal provoked an outcry among other postal workers across Africa, who organised a campaign for their release led by the global union, UNI. All 12 were reinstated on 19 June.

The Confédération Démocratique du Travail (CDT) argues that the National Labour Council does not consult unions on the meeting agenda and thereby limits their leverage to participate and influence socio-economic matters. Moreover, anti-union discrimination anti-union discrimination Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework

is a widespread problem, in particular in foreign owned companies. Management has intervened in union elections in order to get their preferred candidate elected. The company Khalico refuses requests by unions to open collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
negotiations. Instead, management negotiates individually with workers undermining the efforts of the union. The company Tenke Fungurume Mining has not shied away from replacing workers who went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike with contract workers in order to intimidate the workers and to break the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike .

The Union Nationale des Travailleurs du Congo has reported that while employers agree to bargain they put pressure on the unions to replace bargaining agents and threatened not to continue negotiations unless they did so.

In July 2012, five trade union delegates who had been dismissed from the Société Nationale d’Assurance were reinstated. Management had categorically refused to bargain with workers.

In March 2013, Jean Ngandu, regional Deputy Secretary of the Confédération Démocratique du Travail was dismissed for his trade union activities.

The Union Nationale des Travailleurs du Congo reported that public authorities fail to respond to anti-union discrimination anti-union discrimination Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework

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By encouraging the formation of hundreds of unions over a number of years, the authorities have considerably and purposely weakened the trade union movement. There are reported to be around 500 officially recognised trade unions in DR Congo, a situation that has been denounced by the most representative organisations and which they describe as probably the worst case of trade union proliferation in Africa. The authorities have persistently followed the principle of “divide and rule”, under the cover of promoting political pluralism. The creation of yellow and empty-shell unions has been encouraged by employers and the state. An ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights report published in 2010 confirmed these chaotic developments, deemed catastrophic for the trade union movement. It is a trend that has been driven by self interest, political ambition or misinformation about the real values and objectives of trade union pluralism. In most cases, the unions that have emerged are characterised by all-pervading corruption, and their existence has contributed the widespread violation of workers’ rights.

The absence of bona fide trade unions is the rule in the private sector. Most trade unions have no active members and have usually been created by employers to dupe the workers and discourage any attempts at organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. , notably in the mining of natural resources. Human rights associations have reported many cases of Labour Code violations in enterprises where the trade union movement is unable to develop, such as the China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) which, under the terms of a bilateral agreement between China and Congo, is building or restoring roads and railways. The African Association for the Defence of Human Rights (ASADHO) has highlighted the powerlessness and fear of the labour inspectors who dare not take action against these investors who are so clearly favoured by the authorities. The General Industrial Company (SGI) in Kasangulu has also been singled out for the deplorable working conditions there. On 29 September Golden Misabiko, the president of the Katanga branch of ASADHO, was given a one year suspended sentence for reporting abuses of power and negligence by the local authorities in the uranium mines.

The staff of decentralised administrations (towns, regions and sectors) are not unionised and do not enjoy the right to bargain or establish a union. They are on the lowest rung of the state administration ladder and, in practice, constitute a sub-category of public servants.

As an employer, the State has often refused to negotiate with the trade unions. The public sector workers’ union has complained of manoeuvres by the Civil Service Ministry to block reforms. The State has ignored resolutions by the Permanent Social Dialogue social dialogue Discussion and co-operation between the social partners on matters of common interest, such as economic and social policy. Involves participation by the state where tripartism is practice. Framework, a structure set up in 2008. Complaints and appeals by the union have been in vain. In September, for example, the Congo Labour Centre (CCT) lodged a complaint against the government with the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights because following a serious case of interference by the director of Congo Customs dating back to 2005 (the dismissal of trade union activists and the appointment of a new staff delegate), the director concerned has never been called on to answer the charges.